


Day Three: "And I thought I was having a bad day..."

by sparrowhaven



Series: Final Fantasy 14 Writing Challenge March 2021 [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: 31 Days Writing Challenge, Amarout, Emet-Selch gets mad at his friends, Gen, Shenanigans, Spoilers for aspects of Shadowbringers, Twin Azem AU, made of headcanon, news at 11, nothing formal just something I'm doing for fun, okay well this is before he's Emet-Selch but shhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29836446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrowhaven/pseuds/sparrowhaven
Summary: Hythlodaeus is not having a good day. Thankfully, neither are his friends.
Relationships: Azem & Emet-Selch & Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV), Azem & Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV), Emet-Selch & Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV)
Series: Final Fantasy 14 Writing Challenge March 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190222
Kudos: 11





	Day Three: "And I thought I was having a bad day..."

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I have entirely too many thoughts about the friendship between Emet-Selch, Hythlodaeus and Azem. And since we might not get anything more concrete about Amarout than a highly biased construction and tell-all by a nigh-immortal and very nostalgic antagonist then I'm going to have to make shit up _myself_. Welcome to Headcanon Central, population: Me.

Hythlodaeus didn’t normally have much in the way of anger. Certainly he had his bad days as well as good, but generally he didn’t hold onto negative feelings for anything more than a moment. When asked about it, he claimed that time spent around his friend Hades had well and truly purged any desire to lose his temper from his mind. This amused everyone except for the man in question, which was entirely the point of the statement. 

That he was on the verge of _stomping_ through the halls of the Akademia in his fury was something of a miracle. A horrible one that refused to loosen its vicegrip from his mind. He had attempted his usual method of logically working through the problem piece by piece until the end result was far smaller than initially encountered, but it failed at step one. Because he wouldn’t calm down enough to even _start_ the process. 

No wonder Hades was so grumpy all the time, if this is what he dealt with in his own mind every day. Hythlodaeus needed something, _anything_ to distract him. It took him fourteen steps into the cafeteria and towards the usual table that he shared with his friends for him to notice what was happening there.

Sitting on one side of the table was Hades. His arms were crossed and his white mask was tilted downwards in what Hythlodaeus affectionately referred to as his “glaring pose.” On the other side were the twins Apollo and Artemis. The two of them were deliberately looking away from his glare. Artemis was looping a lock of her long, untamable hair around one finger and staring above Hades’ head. Apollo had his hood drawn forward far lower than was standard, and seemed to be trying to stare into the essence of the table rather than face the wrath of his friend. All three of them were covered in a shimmering substance that glittered as the light hit. 

This was certainly distracting enough to pull Hythlodaeus out of his uncharacteristic anger. There was a story here and he _had_ to know it.

A couple of quick paces had him sitting in his usual seat at the table with the biggest smile he could manage. “So I see something fun happened.”

“You should have your definition of fun examined by the word-smiths,” Hades said in lieu of a greeting. “I may not be among their number, but I can assure you that they’ll soundly reject it as soon as you tell them. Chief of the Bureau of the Architect or not.”

Putting a hand on his chest, Hythlodaeus pretended to swoon. “And here I was, trying to add levity to our forlorn group! Do you not know that words can hurt, dear Hades?”

Either his presence or his words drew Apollo out from the cave he’d made for himself in his hood. The white of his mask could be better seen mere moments after Hythlodaeus had sat down. There was an odd tilt to it that he didn’t have time to examine, because Artemis had paused in her follicle ministrations to look at him as well. 

Not noticing or not caring that the twins had moved (history favored the latter possibility), Hades responded, “Yes, but that’s never stopped you before.”

“Wounded again! How dreadful!” He played up the false pain that his friend subjected him to long enough to nudge Hades in the arm. “So what _did_ happen, then? You’re all looking far more fabulous than usual.” 

Before Hades could answer, Artemis butted in. “Who cares about what happened to _us_ , are _you_ alright?”

Hythlodaeus froze. He’d thought that his acting was good enough to hide his foul mood. Being in the presence of his friends and on the verge of hearing whatever antics they got up to while he was away was doing wonders for his mood. Still, the feelings hadn’t quite left. Apollo sat up properly to also look at him properly. “Yeah, you don’t seem like yourself. Is something wrong?”

 _Now_ Hades deigned to turn his head far enough to level the brunt of his gaze on Hythlodaeus. There was a distinct shift from his angry frown to his concerned one. Knowing him, he’d be going over every little detail about Hythlodaeus’ own appearance to figure out what had happened.

It was _utterly_ unfair to be ganged up against like this. _He_ was the one that was supposed to bring everyone’s moods up. Stupid very perceptive friends.

With a dramatic sigh he waved at the three of them as if to drive off the negative feelings. “It’s most certainly _not_ an issue on the same level as whatever you three have done today. I’m sure that if you relay to me what happened, I’ll feel better enough to tell my own story in a more objective manner.” Hythlodaeus ran a gloved finger through the glittering particles that had fallen off of Apollo and onto the table. With his thumb, he grinded the material together and made a note of the texture. “Particularly since the three of you have this stuff on you. Whatever did you _do_?”

There was a beat of silence all around the table. Then, breaking it and his line of sight with Hythlodaeus, Hades leveled a fresh glare at the twins. “The Hall of Glass no longer exists.”

“The Hall of–what? How?” He hadn’t gotten any reports about _this_ yet. 

“It’s _not_ our fault–” Artemis banged a hand on the table. Apollo let out a whine and shrank back into his robe. 

“Oh, so you’re telling me _another_ pair of Amaroutine twins were responsible for destroying the Hall of Glass.”

“If you hadn’t insisted on us going–”

“You should have kept a better eye on the displays–”

“–And, AND! Told us that Lahabreah was going to be there!”

Apollo’s guilt-laden voice was just barely audible underneath the increasing volume of his arguing sister and friend. “The wards shattered like the glass they tried to protect. I don’t even know how it happened like that…”

Hades either didn’t hear or merely ignored what was said (more than likely it was the latter once more). “What he does during his own free time is none of my business, neither should it be _yours_ –”

“Except!” Artemis cut in. “That he scared Apollo! Which started the whole mess!” 

Yes, Hythlodaeus thought as he watched the chaos unfold. This was a much better balm for the soul than talking about his own woes.


End file.
